Mother Dearest
by fisharecoolies
Summary: A new family moves in across the street from the Camden’s. How will life be with the family having four girl children, a mother with skin cancer and the oldest daughter's mysterious ways? All characters R&R! Semi AU
1. Time

Disclaimer: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb.

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Chapter 1: Time

Lucy and Kevin were walking down the sidewalk, pushing their newborn baby daughter, Savannah, in the stroller in front of them. Since the day wasn't all that chilly, they decided that being cooped up in the Camden house for two weeks was more than enough and they wanted some fresh air.

As they were walking back, Lucy looked up ahead from what seemed to be across the street from the Camden house. "Hmm… I guess we have new neighbors," she said to her husband, who was on her right.

"Yeah, I guess so," he responded, focusing on the moving truck unloading furniture. At the moment, two men were carrying a medium blue couch off the truck, while two young girls sat in the lawn with dolls in their laps.

"The little girl with the brown hair looks to be Sam and David's age," Lucy said after seeing that Kevin had noticed them.

"Maybe," he said back and they continued on to the house, planning on telling the news to their family.

When they got back, though, it seemed like they already knew. But then again, the neighbors were across the street and it was hard not to notice the giant moving truck.

"Did you see the new neighbors?" Ruthie asked when they pushed the stroller into the kitchen. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and a white skirt.

"Kinda," Lucy said. "We saw two little girls. One with brown hair and one with blonde." Her hair was down around her face, so she pushed it behind her ears.

"Oh, maybe you can baby-sit for them?" Annie said as she came around the corner with a basket full of laundry. "But for now, can you help with this?"

"Sure, Mom," Ruthie said and followed her mom.

At the moment, Martin came down the stairs in an orange striped black t-shirt and jeans on and said, "I don't know if she'll be able to baby-sit. I saw a girl that looked my age get out of the car that was with the truck."

"Oh well. I'll be able to get a real job soon enough," Ruthie said and continued loading laundry into the dryer, that way her mother could load the dirty clothes into the washer.

"We should go over there later on, once the movers are gone," Annie said, standing next to the washer with one hand planted against it's top.

"That's a good idea. I'll tell everyone about it that way they don't make any plans," Kevin said and carefully picked up Savannah from the stroller. Lucy then folded it up and brought it upstairs while Kevin followed with their daughter in his arms.

Annie smiled. She loved having her granddaughter around. She knew it made Eric crazy because even though he loved his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, he wanted them to get their own place. Although, she supposed, he wanted to close by, so that way he could see them when he wanted to.

* * *

"I think I'll make a cake to bring over," Ruthie said, but Annie barely heard her. She was too busy thinking about how good everything was at the moment.

The two girls sat on the lawn, each fiddling with their dolls hair. They had dolls that were like them, meaning the girl with olive skin, brown eyes and brown hair had a doll that was the same and the girl with lighter skin, bluish eyes and dirty blonde hair had one that was same.

"Koda, play if me!" the blonde girl said. She was about three years old and was kind of pudgy, but in that cute baby way.

"My name isn't _Koda_, Teagan. It's _Dakota. _Okay, _Da Ko Ta_," the older of the two said. Actually, she was four years older than her sister, Teagan.

"Whatever," Teagan tried to say, but it came out completely wrong. She had a slight speech impediment that her father was trying to work out. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be working anything out anymore. She had heard the saying from her older sister, Marina (who was eleven years older than her) and had since been trying to copy it.

Dakota looked back at her doll and went back to fixing her hair. Suddenly, she felt a hand slap her arm and when she let go of her doll, it was snatched away. She looked up. "Teagan! Give me back my dolly!"

"No! Play if me! Play, play, play," she said, stretching out the last word into a whine. When she saw that her older sister wasn't budging, she got up and threw the doll to the grass. She was about to stomp on it when she heard her oldest sister calling out.

"Teagan, if you stomp on that dolly you'll go to time out. And our new house has a lot of corners, so I'd be on my best behavior if I were you. And Dakota, play with your sister!" The young girl looked at the corner of their white two-story house. Walking full speed from the driveway across the shaded grass was a slender girl in a black tank top, dark blue jeans and black high-heeled boots. She had brown eyes and luscious dark brown hair (at the moment, it was in messy bun) that contrasted with her light skin. Since her skin wasn't too pale she wasn't considered a goth although at the moment she felt like she could be one.

"Fine." Dakota said and grabbed the doll off from the ground. After she had been playing with the doll and her sister for a while she set down the doll and walked over to where her sister was now sitting, on the steps in front of the house. "Kennedy?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sad?" Dakota sat next to her and placed her head on her forearm.

"Of course I am," Kennedy said, lifting her arm to wrap around her younger sister. Seeing this, Teagan ran over and sat on the other side of Kennedy and pushed her head through the opening in her arm.

"Are you scared?" Dakota asked.

"Of course I am," Kennedy replied, looking at the house directly in front of her.

"Do you love us?"

"Of course I do."

"Will you take care of us once she's gone?"

"Of course I will," Kennedy replied, although she was surprised by the bluntness of her sister's question. For as long as she could remember she'd been taking care of her younger siblings. That's the way it was. Her mother wasn't the greatest of people and she was a worse mother. True, she tried but she wanted to be 20 again and that wasn't going to happen.

Kennedy partially understood why her mother, Abby, acted with the way she did. After all, she gave birth to Kennedy when she was 17 and lost a part of her younger years, although some people that knew her would argue that she did live her life to the fullest a young woman could, aka parties, tanning, sex, etc.

Throughout her life, all Kennedy could really remember was being a mother figure to her little sisters. She started with Marina when she was about 3 years old, although she couldn't do much (she was still a baby herself). Then she had Dakota to take care of at 10. Fortunately, Teagan's father was a much better man than that of her other sister's. After Teagan was born, Abby started to become more of a mother to her children than she had.

But, in the months before the day they arrived at their new home in Glen Oak, they had gotten a series of terrible news, although it only meant one thing. Once again, Kennedy had to play mother.

In the months before the day they arrived at their new home in Glen Oak, they had gotten a series of terrible news but it only meant one thing. Once again, Kennedy had to play mother.

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This is the redone version. For anyone who did read the origional, i'm just letting you know that I'm going to put the events that you know happened into the story but I'm going to make other interesting story lines soit doesn't seem repetitive to you. REVIEW! 


	2. Comfortably Numb

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. I just found some lint in my pocket that you can have.

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"I think I'll make a cake to bring over," Ruthie said, but Annie barely heard her. She was too busy thinking about how good everything was at the moment.

…

In the months before the day they arrived at their new home in Glen Oak, they had gotten a series of terrible news but it only meant one thing. Once again, Kennedy had to play mother.

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Chapter 2: Comfortably Numb

Kennedy sat in her room, listening to her new Kanye West CD and playing with the bottom of her shirt. Her thoughts were conflicted and she was pretty sure she had a migraine. Regardless, the music was blasting, that way she couldn't hear her younger siblings. She loved them dearly but she couldn't stand being anywhere near them.

"KENNEDY!" she heard someone yell from the other side of the door.

She rolled her eyes and slowly made her way to the door. When she opened it, she saw Dakota staring at her with her arms crossed. "What?"

"We're hungry!" The young girl, pouting.

"Okay, I'll make something… o shit," she said but then stopped. Dakota was looking up at her in awe. "Umm… oops… don't ever say that, okay? What I meant was, shoot. We don't have any food. Wait. Where's mom?"

"She left. She said that she needed time alone so if we were hungry, we should go to you."

"I guess she never thought about buying food. I bet she didn't unpack either," Kennedy said bitterly. She looked back to close the door. Her room, which was at the end of the upstairs hall, was all white with a wood floor. Her bed, desk and dresser were there and in the hour since the movers left, she had put her mutli-colored bed set on her bed, decorated the tops of her desk and dresser and put up curtains that matched her bed set.

They walked to the kitchen, where Marina was playing a game with Teagan. "Hey, sis."

"Hey, Marina. By chance, mom didn't happen to…" Kennedy starting saying but was interrupted by the doorbell. "Who the hell could that be?"

She walked to the door and looked back at her siblings standing behind her. With that, she opened the door. Standing in front of them was a rather large family. Directly in front of Kennedy was a younger girl, about Marina's age, holding up what seemed to be a chocolate cake.

Seeing that, Dakota ran to the girl, grabbed the cake and said, "Yay! Dinner!" She turned around and ran to the kitchen, which was in the back of the house. The young girl and the family around her had weird looks on their faces, but Marina and young Teagan didn't bother with them and they, too, ran for he kitchen. Kennedy was the only one left to deal with their visitors.

"Hey," she said uncertainly. Next to the girl, there was an older woman and man, a younger man and a younger women holding a baby, two twin boys that looked Teagan's age and a boy her age. Actually, she thought that the boy was rather handsome and she smiled in spite of herself.

"Hi, we're the Camden's," the girl said and held out her hand. "My name is Ruthie." Hesitantly, Kennedy accepted her outstretched hand.

"My name is Kevin, this is my wife Lucy and our daughter Savannah. Actually," he said from behind Ruthie. "Our last name is Kinkirk but Lucy was a Camden before she married me. Although I think that we are Camden's at heart."

The older man stepped forward and stuck out his hand, " I'm Eric. I'm the Reverend at the church."

Kennedy mouthed "oh" and looked over at the older woman. "Hello, my name is Annie."

The boy that was in the back spoke up and said, "Hi, I'm Martin and I'm not a Camden but I live with them. My dad is fighting in Iraq right now, that's why I live with them."

At the mention of Iraq, her eyes widened and her face paled. The Camden's noticed but didn't mention it, although they kept a mental note of it. "Your… your father's in Iraq? " she said, swallowing the saliva that had built up in her mouth.

"Yeah, but he should be home soon," Martin said, smiling.

"That's what they say," Kennedy mumbled but the Camden's didn't pick up on it. Martin did though and told himself he would ask her someday when they got the chance to talk in private. She looked up and put on a smile. "My name is Kennedy Colgrove. Why don't you come in?"

* * *

When they were seated in the living room, which was in plain view of the front door, Kennedy excused herself to get her siblings. Once she was in the kitchen, she lowered her voice and said, "Mention nothing of Dad or Mom's condition, you got me? No one needs to know." The younger children agreed and followed her into the living room. When they were seated in the assorted chairs (from the dining room) and sofas, they finished their introductions.

"Well, Teagan is a very pretty name." Annie commented.

"Yes. Her middle name is Marie, though." Dakota said.

"It is, now?" Lucy said, using the voice that she used when talking to younger children.

"Yeah. She got that middle name and the rest of us got cooler middle names. Like, mine is Celeste and Marina's is Ava and Kennedy's is Arabella." Dakota said smugly. She was at the age where she was very interested in names and whenever she meet someone knew, she told them their middle names.

"Cool," Ruthie said and turned to Kennedy. "So, where did you move from?"

"San Francisco."

"Wow, that's a long way. Why did you move?" Eric said.

"Umm… uhh… it's a long boring story. Just things, you know? So, umm… Where do you live?" Kennedy said. She was usually good with these kinds of situations, but she was out of her element. She was used to living in the city but the move to a smaller town made her uneasy.

"Right across the street, actually. You know, why don't you come to dinner? Wait. Where are your parents?" Annie asked curiously. Now that she thought about, the girls never mentioned their parents and they were yet to see them.

"They're out right now. Well, our mother is. Our father isn't around. Long story," Kennedy said nervously. "So, when would you like us to come to dinner?"

"Well, I still have to make it, so how about 6-ish?" Annie said, not satisfied with the answer the girl gave her but willing to wait to get the truth.

"Sure but I doubt our mother can make it. She's… job hunting and she'll be tired." Kennedy said. After a few more minutes of small talk, she showed the Camden's to the door and they left.

"I think we should tell them about mom," Marina said when Kennedy returned to the living room to fix the chairs.

"Marina, we can't. They're church people, they'll want to help and they'll get in the way. We don't need them," Kennedy affirmed before bringing two chairs back to the dining room. The table was already set up in the middle of the room, so she set the chairs in their appropriate places and went back for the rest.

Once she was back in the room, Marina said, "What about food?"

"Sis, just let me worry about that. You just go upstairs, unpack and get ready for dinner." As Marina was walking back to the stairs, Kennedy called after her, "And tell that to Dakota, too."

After she put the chairs back, she decided to unpack the living room. An hour later, she had arranged the furniture, hooked up the cable, made sure the lights worked and partially decorated the room. When she was taking a break, she heard Teagan crying from upstairs, so she rushed up and went to her room. There she found Teagan holding a blanket that her dad gave to her.

Teagan was crying so hard Kennedy could barely make out what she was saying but she managed to hear, "Daddy," a couple times. She picked the toddler up and sat Indian style on the floor, with Teagan resting on her lap. She was hugging and rocking her, trying to make her feel better.

Hearing her as well, Dakota and Marina appeared at the doorway and stopped. Seeing their sister like that made their emotions go crazy and they too started crying. Kennedy saw her sisters and motioned them to go to her. They ran over and hugged her on either side, three drowning girls holding onto a rock to save them.

That was the thought that kept Kennedy numb. She needed to be strong for her sisters. She needed to be the steady thing in their lives. _But what's steadying me?

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To my reviewers: While I appreciate your criticism (I see that I might have let too much out) I cannot change that. Even rewriting the chapter would do no good cause you already know. But all that is needed to the story. I have something planned and I need that angst to have it happen. The drugs are gone so don't worry about that. Just read if you like or don't if you think that there's too much, although I would appreciate you letting me get a bit further before you make your judgment on whether you like it or not. Thank you for reading and reviewing, everyone. Review again, please!


	3. Us And Them

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. I just found some lint in my pocket that you can have.

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Teagan was crying so hard Kennedy could barely make out what she was saying but she managed to hear, "Daddy," a couple times. She picked the toddler up and sat Indian style on the floor, with Teagan resting on her lap. She was hugging and rocking her, trying to make her feel better.

Hearing her as well, Dakota and Marina appeared at the doorway and stopped. Seeing their sister like that made their emotions go crazy and they too started crying. Kennedy saw her sisters and motioned them to go to her. They ran over and hugged her on either side, three drowning girls holding onto a rock to save them.

That was the thought that kept Kennedy numb. She needed to be strong for her sisters. She needed to be the steady thing in their lives. _But what's steadying me?

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_

Chapter 3: Us And Them

At 6 that night, the doorbell rang at the Camden house. Since Lucy was still getting Savannah ready, Annie and Ruthie were finishing up dinner, Kevin and the boys were setting the table and Eric was on the phone, Martin was the one to get it.

He was dressed in the same pants that he'd worn when they visited the Colgrove's but he put on a dark blue button up shirt instead. After a moment spent getting to the front door, he opened it, revealing their new neighbors.

"Hey," he said to the four girls. In front of him Kennedy stood with little Teagan in her arms. Marina was on her left and Dakota on her right. They were all fairly dressed up, proving to him that they weren't poor. But then again, the house that they moved in to was pretty nice and had probably cost a decent amount of money.

Kennedy smiled. She had told all the girls to dress nicely but not too nice. She wore a grey fitted sweater and white pants; Marina wore a maroon blouse with a denim skirt; Dakota wore a tank-top flowered dress; and Teagan was dressed in a matching purple pant and shirt set. All the girls, except Kennedy, had their hair up. They looked like the image they were trying to display. Normal.

"Hello," Teagan said before her sister could respond.

"Come in, please, dinner's almost ready." He opened the door even wider and they entered.

The place was nice, even though their house might have been bigger. "Wow, this is nice." Kennedy said.

"Your house will be just as nice when you finish unpacking," Annie said, appearing from around a corner. She had a dishtowel in her hands that she was fidgeting with. "Martin, why don't you get them settled in the dining room and Ruthie and I will serve?"

"Sure, come with me." Martin led them to the corner and then through a door. There, he had them sit. "Here, Kennedy, you and Teagan can sit here," he said pointing to a two chairs, one with a booster seat on it and one without. When they were settling in, he told the other sisters they could pick their seats.

"Wow, I didn't think there could be this many people at the table," Kevin mused from his seat. Next to him was an empty chair and a high chair, presumably for Savannah. Soon, Martin took his seat on the other side of Kennedy. To his left, Eric joined in at the head of the table. Dakota and Marina took their seats in between Eric and Kevin.

"All done," Ruthie said, appearing with a salad bowl in one hand and a bowl of bread in the other. Behind her, Annie carried in a roast. When they set the food down, Ruthie went to the kitchen and grabbed the mashed potatoes and carrots and took her seat next to Teagan.

With everyone at the table, Eric said, "Let us join hands and say Grace." When everyone had linked together, Eric started. "Thank You Lord for the food that we have. Thank You for letting us share with our new neighbors, the Colgrove's. Amen."

"Amen," the room repeated and soon they were passing the dishes around the table. It reminded Marina of Thanksgiving last year, when Jim had come home to spend it with them. She felt warm tears coming to her eyes but she held them back when her eyes met Kennedy's.

Kennedy knew what her sister was thinking and feeling, but she'd be damned if she was going to let anyone know their secrets. They were in a new place. The rest of the world had to mind their business.

Dinner was a little longer than a half an hour, but it left everyone full. Teagan hadn't even finished her roast. Once it was through, Annie started clearing the dishes.

"Here, Mrs. Camden. I'll help you," Kennedy said and reaffirmed her offer when Annie said she didn't have to. "My mother always told me that the cook shouldn't have to clean up."

"Well, your mother seems like a smart woman and please, call me Annie," Annie replied and let her new neighbor take the dishes that she was carrying. She led Kennedy to the kitchen and showed her what to do. "I'll get Martin to come help you."

Kennedy stood there, admiring the woman's kitchen when she heard someone throat clear behind her. Startled, she whipped her body around and saw Martin standing at the doorway with an armful of dishes.

"A little help," he said, giving her a face that meant he would drop them if she didn't grab the carrots that was balancing on the plates.

She rushed over and grabbed the contents of his right arm and put them on the counter. Once they were set, she looked over her shoulder at him and said, "How 'bout you start and I'll get the rest. I don't know how to work Annie's faucet."

"It's easy," he said, smiling. "Just turn the handle away from you. The right is cold and the left is hot."

Kennedy flushed. She was a bit embarrassed about not knowing how to work a simple faucet but all the others she had used had knobs instead of handles. She knew righty-tighty, lefty-losey; not forward-on, backward-off. She gave a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I guess." She started backing towards the door, "I'll just get the rest."

When she was in the dining room, she saw Lucy cleaning the highchair. "Hi, Kennedy."

"Hey, you have a really cute daughter." She said, trying to make conversation while she collected some more dishes. The one thing that she hated most was uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, thank you. Your sisters are adorable, too." Lucy said, standing up. She made her way to the booster seat, signaling that she was done cleaning the highchair.

When Kennedy had her dishes piled up, she carried them carefully to the kitchen, where Martin was already washing plates from his trip. "This is the rest," she said, placing them down on the counter, gently. She looked around. "Umm… is there anything to dry these off with?"

"Yeah," Martin said, moving from his spot at the sink. "You wash, I'll dry," he said.

"Okay," Kennedy said and took his place. After a few minutes of silence (that was slowly turning uncomfortable) she spoke up. "So, what's the high school like?"

"It's pretty cool, but you are coming in at the last semester. You're graduating this year, right?"

"Yes, and I'm so glad that I am," she said, scrubbing mashed potatoes off a plate.

"I'm not, but then again I've known my classmates for quite some time and you don't even know them yet. Hey, what was it like leaving San Francisco?"

"Weird, you know? Like, I lived there for a long time. Some good things happened there, so really bad things happened there but it's really all I knew. I mean, we lived in Los Angeles for a while but I was younger then and I don't really remember that," she said, never taking her gaze from the soapy water her hands were emerged in.

"You've only lived in big cities?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was born there and I want to die there… when I'm much older, I mean," she said.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I thought that I wouldn't like it here that much but it turns out that this is the greatest place that I've ever been. The people are really nice and there are some cool things to do here. Besides, the Camden's are like my second family." Martin said, looking at her and trying to judge her by the way her face looked when he said certain things, such as family.

"I don't know," she said and stopped. She turned to him and looked up into his eyes. "I might like it here but I don't know. And I really hate not knowing."

"I think that sometimes not knowing is pretty cool. It makes life interesting." Martin said and Kennedy re-focused on the dishes.

_Trust me, my life is way too interesting as it is.

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_

Okay, I know this chapter sucked so don' be like "Omg, this chapter sucked." I was tired when I started and I can't really go back. This is just filler, something to start the drama and give it some background. The action will start next chapter at the girls first day of school. Review! PS every chapter but the first one is going to have a title that is also a title of a Pink Floyd song.


	4. Another Brick In The Wall Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. I just found some lint in my pocket that you can have.

* * *

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I thought that I wouldn't like it here that much but it turns out that this is the greatest place that I've ever been. The people are really nice and there are some cool things to do here. Besides, the Camden's are like my second family." Martin said, looking at her and trying to judge her by the way her face looked when he said certain things, such as family.

"I don't know," she said and stopped. She turned to him and looked up into his eyes. "I might like it here but I don't know. And I really hate not knowing."

"I think that sometimes not knowing is pretty cool. It makes life interesting." Martin said and Kennedy re-focused on the dishes.

_Trust me, my life is way too interesting as it is.

* * *

_

Chapter 4: Another Brick In The Wall; Part 1

The following Monday came before the girls could really even process it. The last thing they knew, they were being ushered out of school by their mother and now they were getting their backpacks for their first day in their new respective schools.

"I don't have to go," Teagan said, only slightly slipping with her pronunciation. She was still in her pajamas, reveling in the fact that, once again, she would have Mommy all to her self.

"You will someday," Dakota muttered and climbed onto their mother's bed. Abby wasn't feeling very well from her grocery shopping trip the day before, so instead of seeing her three oldest girls off to school from the driveway, she asked them to come to her room.

Abby looked pale compared to how she was a year ago. Her eyes were more sunken in and weary than they had been and they were puffy. Even young Teagan knew she had been crying.

The sun shone in the room through her white lace curtains and traced across the hard wood floor to her white embroider bedspread. To her left, her oldest daughter sat in a maroon shirt (with a funny saying on it, but since she was tired, her eyes wouldn't focus on the words) and dark shorts. Teagan sat on her other side, curled up against her with her head on her stomach. Dakota sat next to Teagan with her hands laced in Abby's. Marina was the only one standing and that was because she didn't want to ruin the crease in her tan pants that she had spent half the night perfecting.

"My girls," she said, weak and distant. It wasn't one of her good days, to say the least. _Maybe I can call the neighbor that the girl met to baby-sit. What was her name? Andrea? Anita?_

"Mom, are you sure you're going to be all right here alone?" Kennedy said, resting her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Yes, besides I'm not alone. I've got Doctor Teagan here to help me." She saw her youngest's face break out into a big smile. She loved be good for her children; she wasn't always that way.

"Okay. Well, if you need anything, you can call Annie. I left her number on pad next to the phone," Kennedy said, brushing a piece of hair from her face.

_Annie, that's it,_ Abby thought and shook her head. "I might do that later on." She looked over at the clock and then started pushing Kennedy away. "You better go or else you'll miss school. You can't be late on your first day; people will get the wrong impression. Go, go."

Kennedy smiled and gave her mother a kiss while the rest of the school bound children took notice and followed suit. Once they said their good byes, they went downstairs. Kennedy looked around a bit, making sure they weren't forgetting anything. When she was sure that they were good, she followed her sisters out the door and to the car.

* * *

"I hope the Colgrove girl's will have a good first day," Annie said to her husband, who was currently getting their twin boys ready for kindergarten. Sam had accidentally spilled his orange juice on the table and some of it had descended to their shirts. Not enough for a change though because once the wet spots dried, there wouldn't be any sign of the spillage.

"Me too, they seemed like such nice girls. I am curious about the mother though. Kevin said he saw her get out of her car yesterday afternoon but he couldn't say anything more than that." Eric said. He was always curious about one neighbor or the other, it seemed.

"Well, maybe I'll visit her today," Annie announced before finishing washing the dishes.

"Visit who?" Martin said, coming down the stairs with Ruthie at his side.

"Mrs. Colgrove," Annie said.

"Do we know that's her name?" Ruthie said as she slid into a seat and got a piece of toast that her mother made for breakfast. "I mean, Kennedy said that Colgrove was her last name and we only assumed that the rest of the girl's and the mom's name was Colgrove as well."

"Yeah, she's got a point there," Martin said to the girl who he thought of as a sister, not knowing she didn't feel the same.

"Hmm… well, maybe I'll see about that, too," Annie said. "But you two better hurry along or you'll be late for school."

Ruthie and Martin left after waving goodbye to their family. Eric decided that Sam's shirt was too wet for him to wear, so he brought the boys upstairs to change Sam's shirt and get their backpacks. It was only Annie in the kitchen now.

As she wiped the kitchen counter off, she thought back to the days when she was feeding all of her children. Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie, would still be bustling about the kitchen, talking above one another, trying to make sure they were ready for school while she or Eric would be feeding baby Sam and David. _Ah, the good old days._

A knock at the door broke her from her daydream and she went to the front to answer it. When the door was opened, Teagan and a woman that looked to be almost 50 years old greeted her. According to Marina, their mother was only in her late-30's. _The grandmother?_

"Hi, my name is Abby Russell. You met my girls already. I'm their mother," she smiled a weak smile but Annie assumed it was a tired one. She knew what it was like having a house full of kids.

"Hi, I'm Annie Camden, come in please?" she said.

The two women talked for almost an hour over tea while Teagan colored. They brought up many subjects, including the last names of Abby's children and why they were different, but Annie was shocked at one point of their conversation.

"Martin lives with us because his father is in Iraq right now," Annie had said and saw the same look in Abby's eyes that she had seen in Kennedy's. Abby looked away and stared at the coffee table. "I'm sorry, have I said something that you took offense to?"

"No," Abby said with the slightest hint of emotion in her voice. "It's just that about a month ago my husband was killed in Iraq."

Annie eyes grew wide with sympathy and she hugged Abby, who was trying to keep her composure. Teagan hadn't noticed the grownups; she was still in her Mickey Mouse fantasy.

After the incident, they talked a bit more before Abby asked if Annie could watch Teagan for a few hours, while she got some rest. She told Annie that she hadn't been sleeping so well the passed couple of nights and it was finally getting to her.

Annie agreed and for the next couple of hours, she and Teagan played in the back yard. They stopped only to make sandwiches and watch Teagan's favorite show, The Bold and the Beautiful.

"Teagan, your mother lets you watch this?" Annie asked.

"Yup," the little girl said, totally involved in the show.

"And do you understand it?"

"Yup," and while they watched, Teagan explained a year's worth of history to her babysitter.

* * *

Ruthie and Martin fans: no, they aren't going to be together, sorry. I'm going to redo the first chapter, cause even though many people who already read it won't be able to forget what happened, new people will get that sense of mystery. Sorry. Anyway, school in the next update. 


	5. Another Brick In The Wall Part 2

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. I just found some lint in my pocket that you can have.

* * *

"No," Abby said with the slightest hint of emotion in her voice. "It's just that about a month ago my husband was killed in Iraq."

Annie eyes grew wide with sympathy and she hugged Abby, who was trying to keep her composure.

…………

"Teagan, your mother lets you watch this?" Annie asked.

"Yup," the little girl said, totally involved in the show.

"And do you understand it?"

"Yup," and while they watched, Teagan explained a year's worth of history to her babysitter.

* * *

Chapter 5: Another Brick In The Wall; Part 2

After they left their driveway, Kennedy drove Dakota to the elementary school before driving herself and Marina to the high school. Both of the girls were obviously nervous, but they tried not to let the other notice. A rock station played from the speakers as they turned the drive to the large brick building.

Marina, who had been chewing on her fingernails, unbuckled her seat belt and gathered her belongings onto her lap while waiting for Kennedy to park the car in the Student Parking section. The area they parked in was more towards the road than the school because she honestly didn't want to park in someone else's regular spot. She had been one of the tough girls in her old school but she knew what it was like to be beaten up. And she didn't like it.

Once the roar of the engine had died, Kennedy turned to her sister and said, "You ready?"

Marina faked an excited smile and said, "Yes, I'm good." The sisters looked at each other for a moment longer before deciding that one of them, sooner or later, would have to make the first move.

Since she was the older of the two, Kennedy took a deep breath in, unbuckled and opened the door, letting the door swing out it's entire length. They hadn't parked near any other cars, which was good because if they had, the door would have hit that car. With the door open, and nothing else in her way, Kennedy let her feet fall to the pavement of the parking lot and heaved the rest of her body from the seat. Her belongings were still in the car, so she had to turn around to get them. When she did, she saw that her sister was still in her seat.

"I thought you were good?" Kennedy pried, knowing that her sister was almost about to faint.

"I was and I will be in a second, just let me do it." Marina mirrored her sister's behavior and took a deep breath in before she exited the vehicle.

Within minutes they were walking up the cement walkway in the campus in from of the school. To the left and right of them, trimmed green grass and a few lone trees pointed them in the direction of the school.

"Do you think Martin is here?" Kennedy asked, absentmindedly.

"Why?" Marina said. A part of her, the physical, was sick, but the mental part was floating. She felt like she was in an out of body experience and for the sake of her stomach, she hoped reentry would be soft.

"We know him, so I think it'd be nice to see him, or even Ruthie," Kennedy said, refocusing on her sister.

"Sure," Marina said. She thought she could hear her voice echo but she figured that it was a part of her imagination.

When they had almost reached the steps, the sisters heard a familiar voice calling to them. They turned around to be greeted by a running Ruthie. Behind her, Martin and another boy were walking closer to the girls.

"Hey!" Ruthie said, her straightened hair swinging nimbly behind her. She ran to Marina's side and said, "We've got geometry together, so after you stop in at the office to make sure your paperwork is together, we can go there." Ruthie was obviously excited by the way her smile stayed plastered to her face.

Marina didn't know exactly why she was so happy but she found herself sharing in the joy. Well, that and the out of body experience was giving her a natural high. She smiled back and nodded, glancing 'bye' to her sister as she followed Ruthie into the building.

Kennedy raised her hand to give her a wave and then dropped it as they boys walked in front of her. Her eyes lit up when she saw that Martin was smiling and to her, he looked like a prince. Her Smiling Prince. For a moment she stood there and grinned at him but when she realized that she was starting to look like a fool she stopped before he caught on and said, "Hey."

"Hi. Where are they going?" Martin asked, throwing his thumb back at Ruthie and Marina, who were now entering the main doors.

"Apparently they have a class together so they are going to… it, I guess," she said. The friend, who was kind of cute as well, just stood next to Martin, being very quiet and a little creepy. "Umm… who…?" she said, moving her head to point at Mr. Creepy.

"This is my friend, Mac," Martin said.

"Hi," he said and shook hands with Kennedy. Mac gave her an appreciated glance but Kennedy was too busy staring at Marin. If they were in a soap opera, Martin would be looking at either Ruthie or Marina, but they weren't, so he wasn't paying attention at all. His mind was on the Spanish test that he was taking that afternoon.

They talked for another minute outside of the school and then they moved inside, where Kennedy could get her locker and get ready for her classes to begin. Mac moved off to the upstairs hall to his class but Martin stayed with Kennedy.

"I remember how my first day was here," he said when they were waiting for the secretary to get Kennedy's information ready. There were only two other students in the office but already she felt crowded. _This is going to be a long day,_ she thought.

"You're going to love Mr. Trent, he's an awesome math teacher," Ruthie said once she and Marina were seated in the classroom. A few other students had noticed that she was new but they kept to themselves and didn't bother with the girls. They figured it was another lost soul that the Camden's had under their wings. It is what they did, after all.

* * *

"Well, he has to be better than my last teacher," Marina said, going through the small pocket in her backpack to find a writing utensil. "She gave us homework every… single… night. And it wasn't like 'Do page 56, problems 2-30, even'; it was like, 'Do pages 45-46, all.' I honestly dreaded going to the class every day. When it comes to most things, moving her is awesome."

"Wow. If I moved, I think I would have the worst time adjusting. But you and your sister's are so… I don't know but you are," Ruthie said.

"Well adjusted?" Marina offered and when Ruthie shook her head in agreement, they both started laughing.

Eventually, the bell rang and the rest of the students filled in to their seats. A brunette girl with silky hair and tight jeans walked over to Marina and said, "That's _my _seat, so you need to move out of it, right now."

Ruthie looked up and stared at the girl. "Ginger, this seat isn't yours. You were sitting over at the other side of the room yesterday. You only sat here once in the passed quarter."

Apparently, the girl didn't like that answer because she huffed and twirled around, loudly saying, "Ruthie Camden thinks that she can do whatever she wants just because she is the ministers daughter. Well, she's gonna get what's coming to her."

Marina, who had been looking at her backpack through the entire ordeal, finally looked up. She didn't like anyone being mean to her friends and now she considered Ruthie her best friend, besides her sisters. She would have said something, that is, until she saw the size of the girl. Ginger had to be at least 6 foot tall, if not taller.

Ginger sat down on the opposite side of the classroom, where Ruthie said she had been sitting, and proceeded to give Marina and Ruthie dirty looks throughout the entire class. Ruthie was going to say something to the teacher after class, but Marina stopped her.

"I've never had anyone fight my battles before and I'm not going to start now that I'm in a new school."

* * *

Eh, kinda bad but I needed to have that there. I think I'm going through a dry spell cause I can't write anything interesting! The next chapter is coming soon and it will have drama with Martin and Kennedy. I can write a love for Ruthie, so tell me who you think it should be… besides Martin that is. Review! 


	6. Another Brick In The Wall Part 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. There is some gunk on the bottom of my shoe that I can scrape off for you.

* * *

"I remember how my first day was here," he said when they were waiting for the secretary to get Kennedy's information ready. There were only two other students in the office but already she felt crowded. _This is going to be a long day,_ she thought.

…

Ginger sat down on the opposite side of the classroom, where Ruthie said she had been sitting, and proceeded to give Marina and Ruthie dirty looks throughout the entire class. Ruthie was going to say something to the teacher after class, but Marina stopped her.

"I've never had anyone fight my battles before and I'm not going to start now that I'm in a new school."

* * *

Chapter 6: Another Brick In The Wall; Part 3

It was only three class periods in and already Kennedy felt like she was in hell. The last time she had been a new student, she was still a young child and children except easier than teenagers; especially high schoolers. Everywhere she went, she felt eyes beating down the back of her head, as if they were trying to find out the secrets of her soul. Also, girls were staring at her when she walked down the hall with Martin and Mac.

_Do they think that I'm dating one of them? _She asked herself, although she mused that she wouldn't mind if she were with Mar… _Shut up, mind. Shut up!_

It was between third and fourth period. Kennedy was standing in front of her locker, back to it, waiting for Martin. He had said that he'd help her get to her classes but he was no where in sight. "Where are you?" she whispered under her breath. Kennedy glanced around the hall and then let her eyes rise up the stairs to see if he was there. Nope, not there either. The warning bell rang and the students began to shuffle towards their respective class rooms.

All the sudden, Kennedy started feeling very claustrophobic. Her breath came in shallow swallows and she leaned tighter against the locker, frantically moving her eyes around the hall.

Her breath wasn't calming and in seconds she thought that she was going to pass out. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Please get here, please get here, please get here…"

"Hey, we got to go if you want to make your class."

She opened her eyes and found them gazing into his. She did stop breathing for a moment before his eyes narrowed and she said, "Yeah, we better go."

The hall was clear, except for a single straggler, so Martin decided to break the rules. He reached down for her hand and once he had hold of it, he ran, guiding her with him down the hall. She ran along his side, half-reveling that they were linked.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned, gently yanking her with him. A small pain shot through Kennedy's wrist but she didn't mind. Not only was he touching her, he was trying to help her.

They reached the classroom just as the bell rang and the let go of each other as they entered. The teacher gave them a look before returning her gaze to the attendance book spread out in front of her. Martin flashed Kennedy a smile and led her to a desk where she could sit which was behind him and next to Mac.

_I wouldn't mind doing that again, _they both thought simultaneously.

* * *

Marina and Ruthie were walking down the hall when they met up with Kennedy, Martin and Mac. The sisters hadn't seen each other all day and were surprised to see the others reactions to the day. Kennedy swore her shy younger sister would be upset but she had a grin on her face and she and Ruthie had linked arms. Marina, on the other hand, thought her cool, older sister would already have a boyfriend, or at least a large group of pretty new friends. Kennedy was just with Martin and a boy that she didn't know.

"Hey, so how was it?" Marina said when the groups closed the gap between them.

"_It _was fine," Kennedy said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well, then…" Marina said before smiling at her older sister and waving a goodbye. "I gotta get to..." She looked down at her schedule, "English."

Kennedy watched the younger girls stroll down the hall before she heard Mac say that he had a class, too. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the boys nod at each other and then there were two.

Martin looked at the beautiful girl next to him. She was staring off at the half empty hallway, waiting for nothing in particular. "So, lunch?"

She turned to him abruptly but didn't say anything. He was about to ask again before he realized that she didn't know where the lunch room was or what the kids here did for lunch. "Oh, umm… So, do you want to have lunch with me outside?"

"Yeah, sure," Kennedy said uneasily. She still wasn't sure about the school but she was happy that Martin was taking an interest in her.

He linked arms with her and the two made their way through a series or corridors. From where they were, the lunch room was on the other side of the building and there wasn't any shorter way to get there. In three minutes or so, they made it to the lunchroom doors. From outside they could hear the rumblings of the students chatter. Kennedy felt a nervous pang in her lungs and reached her hand down for Martin's. Once she found it, she took hold and gently squeezed.

* * *

"Here we go."

The rest of the day went by without much excitement. Marina and Kennedy got a lot of homework, some of what they understood, some of what they didn't. By the last bell, they were tired, hungry and bored. School was definitely in session.

Kennedy stood at the entrance doors. Martin had left her there because he had baseball try-outs and he didn't want to be late, although he doubted that he wouldn't get on the team. They had made plans to meet up after at the Promenade. Kennedy would have looked forward to it more if Mac wasn't going with them.

The wind rose a bit and a pleasant breeze hit her face, sending a few pieces of stray hair whipping around her face. Her bag was rested on the cement railing because it was so heavy. Several groups of students passed her coming down the steps to the grassy campus area. She glanced over them but still didn't find Marina. Her impatience was growing. _Where the hell is she?_

About ten minutes, and several annoyed looks later, Marina and Ruthie came popping out of the school entrance, laughing. By this time, Kennedy's patience had worn out. Marina saw this and said, "So, Ruthie, do you need a ride home from school?"

"Well, if Kennedy doesn't mind," Ruthie said, blissfully unaware that it was only a protection strategy to keep Kennedy from yelling, in hopes that the drive will cool her down.

"No, I'm fine with it," she said and led them to the car. As they drove home, Ruthie and Marina chatted about their day. Little did Kennedy know, they were omitting the part about Ginger being mean to Marina.

After they got home, Marina decided that she wanted to study with Ruthie and once again she got out of her sisters rage. At this point, though, Kennedy didn't mind. In only an hour she was going to see Martin. Her mind raced with silly romantic thoughts about how Mac would be called away and they would have alone time.

It took her a little over than a half an hour to get dressed but once she was, she had on a purple fitted long sleeve top and a pair of jeans with sneakers. She went for casual because she didn't want him to think she liked him, even if she did.

At 5:30, she went downstairs with her hair down and said, "Alright mom, I'm going out."

"Don't go for too long, Kenny. I'm feeling tired and I don't know when Marina's coming home,' she heard her mother say from the kitchen.

Kennedy wanted to tell her mother to grow up and take care of her own children but she that might upset her and Kennedy would have to watch her sister all night instead of just a few hours. "Okay, I love you, bye."

_Why can't I have a normal family?_ She thought.

* * *

I know that I haven't updated in a really long time but my computer has been broken and I've had to do it in borrowed time at the Library. Also, writers block and I think I'm getting worse at this than better. Oh, well. Could Be A Camden update Friday maybe. Saturday the latest and I'll update quicker. But reviews help me update so get to them! 


	7. One Slip

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you really want to, go ahead, I can't stop you. I've got a nickel, a scrap of paper, a gum wrapper and an elastic band you can have.

* * *

"Don't go for too long, Kenny. I'm feeling tired and I don't know when Marina's coming home,' she heard her mother say from the kitchen.

Kennedy wanted to tell her mother to grow up and take care of her own children but she that might upset her and Kennedy would have to watch her sister all night instead of just a few hours. "Okay, I love you, bye."

_Why can't I have a normal family?_ She thought.

* * *

Chapter 7: One Slip

Kennedy arrived at the Promenade at a little before six. It was earlier than she had expected but she was glad that it happened that way; at least now she could try to calm her nerves before seeing Martin. She glanced around the masses of people, talking to each other, cuddling, window-shopping. Glenoak was certainly different than San Francisco. The Promenade was calm compared to the city's nightlife.

Faintly she heard Mac speak and she spun around gently with her heels. In her new line of vision, she could see Martin and Mac walking towards her. She smiled and raised her hand to give them a small wave.

When they reached her, Mac spoke first. "You look hott."

Kennedy, shocked by his bluntness, gave him an awkward smile and said, "Okay… thanks?"

"Don't mind him," Martin said, grinning from ear to ear. "He was dropped on his head a lot when he was a baby." Martin brushed passed Mac and started walking passed Kennedy too. She followed him and soon they were headed to the Pool Hall with Mac still behind them. "By the way, you do look really good tonight."

Quickly, Kennedy turned her head away from him to hide her reddened cheeks. "Thanks, you do too."

"What about me?" she heard Mac say, struggling to keep up with the two in the crowd.

Even though she thought he sounded needy and desperate, she quickly responded with, "Yeah, you too," before returning her attention to Martin.

He was focused on their direction, trying to avoid the areas jam packed with people. He didn't need Kennedy getting lost the first time they went out. On an outing. As friends. Yeah, that's what it was. But Martin secretly wished it were more, not knowing Kennedy wished the same. "Here we are, the Pool Hall."

"Wow, this place is awesome," Kennedy said as they entered the giant room, accented with browns, reds and greens.

"Yeah but you must have seen better things in San Francisco," Martin said as the waitress sat them at a table and handed them their menus.

Kennedy thanked the waitress for the menus and said, "I saw flashy, more expensive things in San Francisco. That doesn't make them better. Actually, I like it better this way. It's more comfortable," she smiled, taking it all in. She was out, hanging with her friends, not drinking, not partying, just being together. And that was enough.

"I know I'd rather be out at a nightclub than here," Mac said, trying to act cool. Kennedy was really hott. And better than that, she didn't really know him. He was a cool guy naturally but when it came to girls, he could be a bit of a jerk. For once a girl didn't know that and he had a chance to show them who he really was.

"I wouldn't. I've done that before. You know, gotten drunk and stayed out until dawn. That was when my mom was a stay at home mom. I was in my rebellious phase then," she said, like it was the most natural thing in the world for a teenager to go out clubbing. In her situation, it was.

But Martin and Mac were shocked and barely could contain that shock. Mac shook it off and gave Kennedy a knowing smile but Martin just looked at the menu. In his life, those kind of activities were for when it was legal and rarely, if ever, done. Next to him though was a girl who had done them, seemingly a lot, and wasn't ashamed. _Maybe she's got a problem with them. Maybe that's why she feels comfortable with them._

"Are you guys ready to order?" the waitress said when she came back to the table. Martin was still looking at the menu but Kennedy was ready. "I'd like a diet coke and a basket of curly fries, please."

"Same for me, but make mine a regular coke," Mac said and the table focused its attention to Martin.

After not hearing anything for a few seconds, Martin turned his head up from the menu. He noticed that everyone was waiting on him so he said, "Uhh…I'd like," he glanced back down at the menu. "A basket of onion rings and a coke."

"Okay, that's three cokes, two baskets of curly fries and a basket of onion rings. You're order will be done in ten minutes." With that the waitress sauntered back behind the counter and gave the order to the cook before stepping back out to serve another table.

"Someone was being a space cadet," Mac said.

"I just got distracted by the menu," Martin said simply, not convincing anyone else but hoping it was good enough.

Mac and Kennedy nodded their heads slowly and gave each other clueless looks, but inside Kennedy knew it was her fault. _Great, now he thinks I'm Tara Reid._

Leaving their earlier conversation behind, Mac and Martin told Kennedy about the cliques in the school and other bits and pieces that she'd need to know. She soaked up the information well, knowing her old school was worse. Besides the fact that there were at least a thousand more people in her old school (P.S. 113. Go Wildcats!), there were a lot less cliques and more random rules to remember in Glenoak. And for that she was grateful.

When their food came, they ate it eagerly, Kennedy tasting it for the very first time. If she wasn't with Mac and Martin, she would have made a joke about losing her Pool Hall virginity but she figured they wouldn't understand the common joke. They did attend church on a regular basis. _Church people_, she thought before cringing inwardly. San Francisco was about a liberal as any city could be so she didn't know anyone, besides her new friends in Glenoak, who'd been to church. And from what she was taught by her old friends, church people weren't very accepting.

Before she knew it, their outing was over and she was driving herself back home. Next time Martin and her would have to take the same car because it was ridiculous. He was the car right behind her. They together were destroying the ozone layer. Hey, she was from San Francisco after all.

* * *

Authors Note: Has it been that long already? Wow, well I don't do well when school is in session. I'm on break now for a while, so I'll be able to update a lot sooner. Hopefully. Review if you don't hate me by now. If you do, I understand. Thanks for reading! 


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